The stories behind the buildings, statues and other points of interest that make Manhattan fascinating.

Friday, January 29, 2016

The James L. Graham House -- No. 21 Washington Square No.

In 1835 Edmund Wilkes began construction of three adjoining
houses on the northern side of Washington Square.George P. Rogers set the tone of the
Washington Parade Grounds when he erected his lavish home in 1828-29—the first
residence on the square.Now Wilkes
joined the trend by building Nos. 21 through 23.Completed in 1836 they were high-end Greek
Revival residences intended for wealthy homeowners.

Like its neighbors, the stately architectural features of No. 21
announced its tony status.The exceptional
ironwork and parlor floor balcony, the refined Ionic portico, and the
ornamented fascia board below the cornice boasted that its owner could afford
extras.

The high-end ironwork included not only the handsome fencing, but the exceptional balcony with its large, elaborate wheel designs.

By 1842 New York City directories listed the Graham family
in No. 21.Attorney James Lorimer Graham
had represented Peter G. Stuyvesant in April 1836 when he proposed to the Board
of Alderman the creation of “Hollow Square” (eventually named Stuyvesant
Square).It would be, wrote Lorimer, the city’s responsibility
to “plant and improve such enclosures similar to the improvements in Washington
Square.”

James and Julia Graham had three sons—Henry Beekman Graham,
James Lorimer Graham, Jr., and Robert McCoskry Graham—an adopted daughter,
Rebecca, and daughter Mary.

When Mary married politician Joseph B. Varnum, Jr., the
newlyweds moved into the Washington Square house; as did Rebecca and her new
husband, Samuel Dexter Bradford, Jr., following their marriage on January 11,
1859.

By now the Graham sons were all working with him at No.
108 Broadway, home of the Metropolitan Insurance Company, of which Graham was
President.James Jr., who had moved out
and was living at No. 4 Washington Square, held the position of 2nd
Vice President; and Robert was
Vice-President.

When Julia Graham’s 73-year brother, James McCall, fell ill
in 1864, he, too, moved briefly into the house.McCall had been President of the Metropolitan Bank and a partner in
James McCall & Co., but had retired years earlier and left the city.But he returned during the summer of 1864 “to
take medical advice.”Diagnosed with “asthma
of the heart,” he was brought from the Clarendon Hotel to the Graham
house.Here he died on Thursday, August
11; and his funeral was held in the drawing room the following Saturday.

In 1872 James L. Graham hired builders John T. Conover and
E. & W. N. Dobbs to construct a one-story brick stable at the rear of the
house.But before long he would have
more pressing problems than housing his carriage and horses.

The first sign of financial problems appeared in June 1875
when Graham transferred title of the Washington Square house to Julia’s cousin,
Elizabeth MccCall.The Real Estate
Record & Builders’ Guide noted it was “assigned to secure to Grantee the
payment of debts of $31,900.”

In February 1858 Elizabeth had inherited about $70,000 from
her husband’s estate, including real estate.It was a sizeable amount—translating to more than $2 million today.Before Elizabeth made an extended trip to
Europe, she turned her affairs over to Graham.When he asked her to sign a paper, she did so without reading it, in
complete trust.It was an absolute power
of attorney.

Elizabeth received income from her holdings and had no reason to
question Graham.But when she received
a notice from the Sailor’s Snug Harbor that the taxes on a house she owned on
19th Street had not been paid for six years, she headed to No.
21 Washington Square for an explanation.

She later recalled “I went at once to see him about my
estate.He made no explanation in regard
to it, except that he had nothing to give me other than the said house, upon
which the taxes were unpaid, and the furniture in it.”

Elizabeth sought out an attorney, who gave her bad
news.“I found that he was pressing
claims of other relatives against the same defendant, and had obtained from the
defendant a mortgage upon his household furniture, ornaments, pictures,
bronzes, &c., to secure those claims.”She told officials in February 1878 that she was nearly broke.On February 19 an order for Graham’s arrest
was granted.

James Lorimer Graham had fallen victim to a not-uncommon 19th century situation. In order to keep up the appearances of prosperity, he had turned to crime.

The New York Times advised “He was formerly supposed to be
very wealthy, and it is said that so great was the confidence reposed in him
that several ladies with estates that needed looking after have intrusted them
to Mr. Graham’s care.”

The Washington Square mansion became home to the Charles A.
Post family.A respected attorney, Post
and his wife maintained a summer estate in Sayville, Long Island.During the winter season, Mrs. Post busied
herself with social activities, including her membership in the exclusive
Thursday Evening Club.In 1888 the New
York Amusement Gazette reported, “The Thursday Evening Club will meet on March
7 at Mrs. Charles A. Post’s 21 Washington Square, north.”

Like all socialites, Mrs. Post announced her “at homes,” those
afternoons when ladies could visit.By
publishing the days they were receiving, women avoided the annoyance of
dropping off their visiting cards at the home of another socialite who, too, was
out.On February 9, 1894 Mrs. Post
announced, for instance, that she was receiving “Fridays during the season.”

The convenience of reporting “at homes” was not shared by
General William Tecumseh Sherman.On
February 2, 1891, in a letter regretting he could not attend the Posts’ dinner
that Saturday, Sherman mentioned to Mrs. Post, “Of course I was sorry to miss
you on my last two calls, but the trust is I cannot keep the run of ladies’
days and I have been trained to believe a man belittled by running after what
are termed ‘teas.’I prefer to take my
chances, and will surely catch you in some time.

“Of course ladies cannot be always ready to receive
callers.They have their days to society
people—an admirable plan, but somehow it don’t suit me, and I must take my
chances, and whenever of an evening I happen so far down town as you are doomed
to live, I will ring the door bell, sure that some time you will be at home.”

As the push for women’s voting rights gained force, Mrs.
Charles A. Post was there to oppose it.The New York Times called her in 1894 “one of the most earnest of the
New-York opponents of political equality.”She explained her position to a Times reporter on May 1 that year
saying, in part, “As it is, to give women the suffrage would only increase the
ignorant vote and bring refined women into contact with an element that should
not be brought into their lives.”

She argued that women “have so many duties that I do not
think it is right to put any more upon them…We are constantly hearing of women
who are breaking down in attending to the duties of the home.”

The Posts did not participate in the New York’s winter
social season of 1899-1900.Like many
wealthy families who took extended trips, they leased their home that
winter.Their tenant, lawyer E. S.
Rawson, was best known to Newport society, where he maintained his cottage,
Avalon, on Ocean Avenue.

The Posts were back the following winter, and Mrs. Post
resumed her routine of entertainments, like the “luncheon party” she held on
Tuesday, February 5, 1901.

In 1917 the aging couple took a 14-room, 4-bath apartment at
No. 777 Madison Avenue.The Washington
Square mansion was briefly operated as a boarding house.On May 19, 1918 an advertisement appeared in
the New-York Tribune offering “Large and small rooms, with board; table guests accommodated.”

Then in June 1919 Pepe & Brother brokered the sale of
the house to actor E. H. Sothern and his wife.Newspapers were more interested in Mrs. Sothern, who was the famous
stage actress Julia Marlowe.The couple
had appeared together on stage before their marriage; but it was Julia who
achieved the most fame.

The Sotherns would not remain in the house for long,
however.On April 22, 1920 the New-York
Tribune announced that “Julia Marlowe Sothern’s home in Washington Square is to
be made over into an apartment house of the duplex studio type.”The following day the New York Herald
reported “Placido Mori is the buyer of the residence at 21 Washington Square
North, sold by Mrs. E. H. Sothern.”

Since 1883 Mori had operated the well-known Mori’s
restaurant nearby on Bleecker Street.He
moved into the Washington Square house and continued to run the restaurant,
despite the problems of Prohibition.

Placido Mori ran the restaurant at Nos. 144-146 Bleecker Street until 1937 photograph by Berenice Abbott from the collection of the New York Public Library

On Saturday night, January 13, 1923 the 54-year old Mori did
not come home.That night police, armed with a search warrant, raided
the restaurant.They “seized fifty-eight bottles of wine and ten bottles partly filled
with whisky,” reported The Times.Following Mori’s arrest, they went upstairs to the apartment of Louis
Funai where they removed 18 bottles of champagne, 247 bottles of wine, 15
bottles of gin, 4 bottles of kimmel and one gallon of wine.Police estimated the valued of the liquor at
$10,000—in the neighborhood of $140,000 today.

Among the residents in the converted
Washington Square house by 1938 was former war correspondent Jay Allen.That year he hosted an internationally-known
house guest, Spanish artist Luis Quintanilla.Considered one of Spain’s foremost artists, he had given up painting to
fight for the Loyalist forces after insurgents destroyed most of his life’s
work.Quintnilla had brought with him 60 sketches of prison life. He had done them while imprisoned for seven months on
a charge of harboring four Socialist friends in his studio during the October
1934 Revolt.

In 1942 the former mansion was
converted to seven apartments, while preserving the historic façade.It enjoyed the cinematic spotlight when
it was used as the home of Albert Finney’s character, Dr. Sloper, in the 1997
film Washington Square.

Outwardly little changed, No. 21 is a fine
example of the elegant lifestyle of the residents of Washington Square in the
19th century.

photographs by the authormany thanks to Nancy Barricklo for requesting this post